Dog Days of Winter
by abbyfillion22
Summary: A Brooklyn Pound owner is found ripped to shreds with all of the dogs mysteriously missing. Rick competes with a new puppy for Kate's attention
1. Chapter 1

A short man in overalls parks his car outside a cement building. He picks up a cup holder from the passenger seat containing two tall coffees. He swings a canvas messenger bag over his shoulder and approaches the front door. "Brooklyn County Pound" is painted on the glass of the side window. The man digs in his pocket and pulls out a key, inserting it into the lock. He pushes the door open with his shoulder, balancing the coffees in one hand. He hangs the key on a hook inside the door. There is a metal desk in the lobby where the man sets down the drinks and boots up the old Windows computer. He paces the room, sipping coffee while he waits for the computer. Suddenly, he stops in his tracks. He cocks his head to the right, listening intently. Silence. The pound is never silent. There's always a constant din of barking and howling. Intrigued, he pushed open the door leading to the kennels. The man drops his cup when he surveys the room. The camera focuses in on the coffee hitting the floor and rolling away. There is a wide shot of the room, all of the cages stand ajar and empty. A second man lies on the linoleum floor in a pool of blood.

Rick and Kate sat cuddled on the couch with a huge plaid blanket thrown over them. The fire was blazing and the flickering light bounced off of the wine glasses sitting on the coffee table. It was the fourth consecutive day of snowing and they were trapped inside for the day, not to either of their disappointment.

Rick had his arm around her and she rested her head against his chest, glad for the shared warmth. Kate glanced down at her feet where Hugo, their new golden retriever puppy, laid snoring quietly. She could feel the dog's heat radiating off of him as she gently stroked his head with her foot. Hugo twitched in his sleep and pawed at her toes. He was about a foot tall, still only a few months old. Castle had bought him as a surprise for her birthday. He was a beautiful redcoat from the finest purebred in the city, named after one of Kate's favorite authors, Victor Hugo. Kate grinned as Hugo rolled over onto his back, his paws in the air and his tongue lolling out of his mouth. When Hugo was fully grown, they planned to have him trained as a police dog so they could bring him along with them to work.

She refocused her attention on the movie that she and Rick were watching, Marley & Me.

The movie was drawing to a close when her phone vibrated on the table.

Hugo jumped to his feet; intrigued by the strange rectangular object that was shaking on the table. He put his paws up on the table and sniffed the device.

Kate nudged Hugo out of the way as she reached for the phone. The puppy looked dejected, but then jumped back onto the couch to sit on her lap.

"Beckett," she answered, accepting the call.

Castle patted Hugo on the head as Kate talked to Ryan. The new dog took almost as much care as Alexis had, he thought. He had no idea how much attention one animal could need. But Kate adored the fuzzy creature, so Castle put up with him.

"Alright," said Kate, "be right over." She hung up.

Hugo whined when his mistress stood up. "There's been a murder in Brooklyn," said Beckett.

"Aw, man!" said Castle, "it's just getting to the good part!" He paused the movie.

Kate looked at the screen. The Grogan family was lifting the dying Labrador into the back of their station wagon. "Castle, if we watch any more of this movie, you're going to be bawling your eyes out for the rest of the day."

Castle glanced between Kate and the screen. "Yeah, you're right," he sighed.

"Good," said Kate, "now go get dressed. And bundle up, it's cold outside."

Rick shuffled into his bedroom with Hugo trotting along at his heels.

Kate holstered her gun and pulled her boots on. She was sliding her cashmere sweater over her head when she heard a loud crash.

"HUGO!" Rick hollered. "PUT. THAT. DOWN!"

She rolled her eyes and hurried into the bedroom. "What's wrong?"

"Your dog's got my shoe," said Rick, exasperated.

Hugo stood on the bed, his tail wagging with a black leather shoe dangling by the lace in his jowls.

"Come here, sweetheart," Kate cooed. Immediately, Hugo dropped the shoe and bounded into her open arms. She knelt down and scooped up the puppy, cradling him like a baby. "He doesn't respond well to anger, Rick," she scolded.

Castle bit his tongue, upset that Hugo was getting most of Kate's affection recently and not him.

She turned and carried Hugo out into the living room. She plopped him down in his doggie bed in front of the fireplace. He turned once, twice, three times, before settling into the warm bed.

Kate put her coat on and tied a scarf around her neck. Rick emerged from the bedroom in full snow gear.

"Do you think he'll be okay here?" she whispered to him.

"Yeah, sure," said Castle.

"Maybe we should call a sitter," said Kate, worried about her baby.

"On it," said Rick. "MOTHER!"

"What, dear?" Martha shouted from upstairs.

"We have to go, watch Hugo while we're gone!" said Castle.

"Okay dear, you two be safe!" said Martha, descending the stairs.

They rode the elevator down to the lobby. "Oh, I'm just so worried about Hugo. He's never been away from us for a long period of time. What if he gets into trouble?"

"Stop worrying Kate, he'll be fine. I think we should worry more about Mother getting into trouble," said Castle.

Back at the loft, Martha sat at the kitchen counter, flipping through a magazine. Hugo paced the room nervously, looking for his masters. Seeing the wine glasses on the coffee table, he jumped up on his hind legs and began lapping the alcohol; Martha, oblivious to the puppy's mischief.


	2. Chapter 2

When Beckett and Castle arrived at the crime scene, Perlmutter was already crouched over the body, scribbling notes on his clipboard. The victim's body was torn up, bite and claw marks covered his face. When Perlmutter saw them approaching he stood up, his knees cracking loudly.

"Ah, if it isn't our favorite couple!" said Perlmutter. "The stunning Detective Beckett and her girlfriend, missus Castle."

Castle smirked at him. "If I didn't know you better, Perlmutter, I'd say you were jealous."

"Of course I am," he admitted. He went back to writing.

Kate wrinkled her nose. "Who's the vic?"

"Jonathan Conrad, age thirty-two. Works the night shift here at the pound," said Perlmutter, handing Beckett the file.

"Cause of death?" asked Castle.

Perlmutter huffed. "Isn't it *obvious*? He was attacked by the dogs."

Beckett knelt next to Conrad's corpse. "The question here is-"

"Who let the dogs out?" finished Castle.

Perlmutter rolled his eyes in disgust. "Couldn't let that one slide could you?"

"Afraid not."

"Why would the dogs attack him?" asked Beckett, interrupting their banter.

"I don't know, you're the detective," Perlmutter retorted.

"Maybe it's like Rise of the Planet of the Apes," said Castle, "Conrad was abusing them, so they broke themselves out and killed him!"

"This isn't science fiction here, Castle, this is real. Besides, dogs unlike apes lack opposable thumbs, therefore they are a less developed species," said Beckett to humor him. "Maybe they're just aggressive dogs."

"I don't think so," said Perlmutter, "when aggressive dogs are brought in, they're taken straight to the back room, if you catch my drift."

"They're put down right away?" said Castle incredulously. "They don't even get a chance?"

A woman approached them from behind. "They're a threat to the other dog's safety. No one wants to adopt a violent dog."

Castle and Beckett turned to face the woman. She was about as tall as Kate, with long curly black hair. She would be beautiful if not for the coldness she projected. Her eyes were the color of slush; the almost melted snow on the side of the road that turned grey from the gravel.

"And you are…" said Beckett.

"Marion Conrad, I'm Jonathan's wife," said the woman, crossing her arms and staring Kate up and down.

Feeling uncomfortable, Beckett crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the other foot. "Do you work here also, Mrs. Conrad?"

She glowered at Beckett. "I suppose it's *Ms.* Conrad now. And yes, I work here as well."

"I am so sorry for you loss, Ms. Conrad," Beckett said kindly.

Marion waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, skip the small talk. I'm guessing you want to ask me some questions? Where was I and all that? Let's make it snappy, I have to go hunt down those missing dogs."

Beckett gritted her teeth, secretly wanting to claw this woman's eyes out. "Yes, we do have some questions for you, but I'm afraid we'll have to go downtown." She really didn't have to take Marion to the precinct, but Beckett desperately wanted to annoy her.

Marion reached into her fur coat pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She lit one and started puffing. "What am I, a suspect?"

Castle coughed, the smoke blowing into his face. "Not yet."

Beckett winced, hating the smell of cigarette smoke. "Is it really safe for you to be smoking in here? I mean, with all the dogs around, it can't be healthy."

Marion rolled her eyes. Those snobby Manhattan people could be such prudes. "You think I care about these mongrels? It was my husband who was obsessed with animals; treated them like his children."

I can relate, thought Castle, thinking about Hugo.

"We can talk at the precinct," said Beckett, showing Marion to their car.

Ryan and Esposito sauntered up to Castle, passing Marion and Beckett on the way.

"Who's the stiff?" asked Espo.

"Jonathan Conrad, dog lover," said Castle.

"I used to have a dog," said Esposito.

"Yeah?" said Castle.

"Yup, hated him. He'd chase me around the yard and I'd have to take refuge in a tree or else the beast would try to rip my throat out," Espo shook his head.

"Oh, sorry to hear that," said Castle. "So what was he? Doberman, pittbull, german shepard?"

"Schnauzer."

Ryan and Castle glanced at each other then burst out laughing.

"A *schnauzer*?!" Ryan giggled. "Those can't be more than a foot tall!"

Castle began tearing up.

Esposito frowned. "It's not funny, bro. That thing was *scary*! He'd stare at me when I'd sleep!"

"How do you know Lanie doesn't do that?!" said Castle, carrying on. "Ohhhh!" He held up a hand for Ryan to high five.

Ryan and Esposito stared at him.

"That's not funny, man," said Ryan.

Espo shook his head. "So not funny."

Castle slowly lowered his hand. He walked away, head hung, tail between his legs.


End file.
